I use a great deal of speed and agility training with children who have Down Syndrome. This training has a number of benefits for this population. First, it strengthens the child’s entire body. They have to develop trunk strength and endurance to hold the positions, their lower body has to become stronger to perform the exercise, and they have to learn to use their arms. Second, it develops speed and power. These are qualities that individuals with Down Syndrome typically lack. Third, it teaches skills that are transferable to athletics and real life. If the children should participate in sports, they have the potential to know how to move. Even if they don’t, all the qualities developed above may help them in real-life situations. Finally, it provides a good workout for them!
I like to begin these kinds of sessions with mobility exercises. These exercises focus on the hips (walk with high knees), hamstrings (march and touch your toes), quadriceps (kick your bottom), calves (walk on your toes), and upper body (bear crawls). These serve as great ways to warm-up, are fun, and begin the conditioning process.
Next I proceed to some fundamental agility exercises. While these are important skills, they also represent a good continuation of the warm-up and condition the child’s muscles. I like to focus on shuffling and backpedaling.
With shuffling, I cue them to push and step (I demonstrate this as well). They should push with the inside foot and step with the outside foot. For example, if shuffling to the right they should push with the left foot and step with the right. It is not unusual for these children to want someone to stand in front of them and hold their hands while they do it – I think they perceive that they are going to lose their balance and as a result want this support.
Backpedaling is another activity that these children want some help and support with. First, they have balance concerns. Second, they cannot see where they are going (since they are moving backwards). Both of these are disorienting for them. So, while they move back, it’s not unusual for them to have someone in front of them holding their hands.
With both skills they eventually become more comfortable and need less support, though they may still want to rely on it. I have found that once they are comfortable with it, if you have them perform the skills fast then they get into it more.
In terms of speed training, I focus on two things with children with Down Syndrome. The first is the sprint. I teach this from a standing position with one foot back. The idea is to begin teaching them how to sprint if/when they begin competing in Special Olympics. The second is using the miniature hurdles (about six inches high) for walking, running, and jumping over.
These are all actually very fun ways to train these children. With the exception of the shuffling and backpedaling these are all things that they enjoy doing.